February 28, 2023 Quick space links
Courtesy of BtB’s stringer Jay.
- Video of deployment of the 21 upgraded Starlink satellites launched February 27, 2023
A very different method of deployment than used previously.
- Virgin Galactic’s fourth quarter financial report
For my readers information only. As Jay writes, “I do not trust any numbers that this company has.”
- Rocket Lab announces launch contract with Capella Space
The contract is for four launches, to begin in the second half of this year.
- ISRO completes flight acceptance test of rocket engine to be used in Chandrayaan-3 lunar launch
The engine will be used during launch by the upper stage of a version of India’s GSLV rocket. That launch is now scheduled for sometime this summer.
- China displays model of proposed Long March 10 rocket, next generation manned capsule, and manned lunar lander
Pure fantasy at this point.
- China unveils models of suborbital manned spacecraft
The entire two-stage spacecraft looks like a copy of New Shepard, with the capsule made to look somewhat like a Dragon capsule.
- Another version of China’s heavy lift Long March 9 unveiled
Having the ability to change is not in itself a bad thing, but indecisiveness can be a curse. At present it is not clear which it is for this particular Chinese rocket project. Jay’s comment: “Dr. Long [the designer] … can’t decide which plans to steal and build.”
Jay asks forgiveness for the lateness today of these quick links, as he was overwhelmed with work at his real job. I say, no apology required. Thank you Jay!
The support of my readers through the years has given me the freedom and ability to analyze objectively the ongoing renaissance in space, as well as the cultural changes -- for good or ill -- that are happening across America. Four years ago, just before the 2020 election I wrote that Joe Biden's mental health was suspect. Only in the past two weeks has the mainstream media decided to recognize that basic fact.
Fourteen years ago I wrote that SLS and Orion were a bad ideas, a waste of money, would be years behind schedule, and better replaced by commercial private enterprise. Even today NASA and Congress refuses to recognize this reality.
In 2020 when the world panicked over COVID I wrote that the panic was unnecessary, that the virus was apparently simply a variation of the flu, that masks were not simply pointless but if worn incorrectly were a health threat, that the lockdowns were a disaster and did nothing to stop the spread of COVID. Only in the past year have some of our so-called experts in the health field have begun to recognize these facts.
Your help allows me to do this kind of intelligent analysis. I take no advertising or sponsors, so my reporting isn't influenced by donations by established space or drug companies. Instead, I rely entirely on donations and subscriptions from my readers, which gives me the freedom to write what I think, unencumbered by outside influences.
Please consider supporting my work here at Behind the Black.
You can support me either by giving a one-time contribution or a regular subscription. There are five ways of doing so:
1. Zelle: This is the only internet method that charges no fees. All you have to do is use the Zelle link at your internet bank and give my name and email address (zimmerman at nasw dot org). What you donate is what I get.
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Courtesy of BtB’s stringer Jay.
- Video of deployment of the 21 upgraded Starlink satellites launched February 27, 2023
A very different method of deployment than used previously.
- Virgin Galactic’s fourth quarter financial report
For my readers information only. As Jay writes, “I do not trust any numbers that this company has.”
- Rocket Lab announces launch contract with Capella Space
The contract is for four launches, to begin in the second half of this year.
- ISRO completes flight acceptance test of rocket engine to be used in Chandrayaan-3 lunar launch
The engine will be used during launch by the upper stage of a version of India’s GSLV rocket. That launch is now scheduled for sometime this summer.
- China displays model of proposed Long March 10 rocket, next generation manned capsule, and manned lunar lander
Pure fantasy at this point.
- China unveils models of suborbital manned spacecraft
The entire two-stage spacecraft looks like a copy of New Shepard, with the capsule made to look somewhat like a Dragon capsule.
- Another version of China’s heavy lift Long March 9 unveiled
Having the ability to change is not in itself a bad thing, but indecisiveness can be a curse. At present it is not clear which it is for this particular Chinese rocket project. Jay’s comment: “Dr. Long [the designer] … can’t decide which plans to steal and build.”
Jay asks forgiveness for the lateness today of these quick links, as he was overwhelmed with work at his real job. I say, no apology required. Thank you Jay!
The support of my readers through the years has given me the freedom and ability to analyze objectively the ongoing renaissance in space, as well as the cultural changes -- for good or ill -- that are happening across America. Four years ago, just before the 2020 election I wrote that Joe Biden's mental health was suspect. Only in the past two weeks has the mainstream media decided to recognize that basic fact.
Fourteen years ago I wrote that SLS and Orion were a bad ideas, a waste of money, would be years behind schedule, and better replaced by commercial private enterprise. Even today NASA and Congress refuses to recognize this reality.
In 2020 when the world panicked over COVID I wrote that the panic was unnecessary, that the virus was apparently simply a variation of the flu, that masks were not simply pointless but if worn incorrectly were a health threat, that the lockdowns were a disaster and did nothing to stop the spread of COVID. Only in the past year have some of our so-called experts in the health field have begun to recognize these facts.
Your help allows me to do this kind of intelligent analysis. I take no advertising or sponsors, so my reporting isn't influenced by donations by established space or drug companies. Instead, I rely entirely on donations and subscriptions from my readers, which gives me the freedom to write what I think, unencumbered by outside influences.
Please consider supporting my work here at Behind the Black.
You can support me either by giving a one-time contribution or a regular subscription. There are five ways of doing so:
1. Zelle: This is the only internet method that charges no fees. All you have to do is use the Zelle link at your internet bank and give my name and email address (zimmerman at nasw dot org). What you donate is what I get.
2. Patreon: Go to my website there and pick one of five monthly subscription amounts, or by making a one-time donation.
3. A Paypal Donation:
5. Donate by check, payable to Robert Zimmerman and mailed to
Behind The Black
c/o Robert Zimmerman
P.O.Box 1262
Cortaro, AZ 85652
You can also support me by buying one of my books, as noted in the boxes interspersed throughout the webpage or shown in the menu above. And if you buy the books through the ebookit links, I get a larger cut and I get it sooner.
The article does not say it, but for Rocket Lab, this is four additional launches contracted with Capella. They already have one launch scheduled, presumably to launch in March.
Here’s one for the next Quick Links, perhaps: Eric Berger reports that ULA may be up for sale.
https://twitter.com/SciGuySpace/status/1630974915674243082?t=rH7eWhn7d_xXhpES6qd8-Q&s=19
Oh, there’s an article now, too:
https://arstechnica.com/science/2023/03/sources-say-prominent-us-rocket-maker-united-launch-alliance-is-up-for-sale/
Which I think is something many of us have expected would happen at some point this decade. But I confess, I didn’t expect it quite this soon. But then again, something like later this year may be the optimum time for Boeing and Lockheed to get the best price: A successful Vulcan debut, and lots of USSF, Kuiper, and Dream Chaser launches locked up on the manifest for the next five years, but before Starship, Neutron, Terran R, and friends saturate the medium/heavy class market with cheap launchers.
I don’t think the deployment method for the new V2.0-mini Starlinks is all that different from the way V1.0 and V1.5 birds are deployed. The main difference seems to be that the stack retaining rods now remain with the second stage instead of being left in the initial deployment orbit. That orbit is fairly low and the rods don’t have especially lengthy on-orbit lifetimes, but this new arrangement allows them to re-enter with the 2nd stage more certainly and promptly. This just looks like an incremental SpaceX improvement in “debris hygiene.”
The Starlink deployment video is consistent with the launch video of the fairing separation. Fairing separation was viewed from the top of the stack, too. The camera, being on the top of the stack looking back along the spacecraft body, gave us a different view of fairing separation during the launch video. Here we see that the satellite release mechanism was attached to the upper stage and, as Dick Eagleson pointed out, didn’t become orbital debris. When the restraint comes alongside the body of the upper stage, we get a view of the departing Starlink satellites.
This version of Starlink, V2-minus, is lighter than the full version. The Falcon 9 was able to put up a few more than I had calculated based upon the full version’s weight.